Entry "Electoral Technology", in Yves Deloye, Michael Bruter (eds), Encyclopædia of European Elections, London, Palgrave McMillan, 2007, pp. 114-117. (original) (raw)
Related papers
Philosophical and Historical Perspective of the Development of Electoral Technologies
WISDOM, 2021
The main purpose of the article is to characterise the philosophical and historical perspective of the de- velopment of electoral technologies. The methodological basis of the research is conditioned by the pecu- liarities of the research subject, its interdisciplinary nature and expediency of a combination of sociologi- cal, historical-philosophical, political science and other approaches. Philosophical and historical analysis showed that electoral technologies should be understood as a kind of political communication used to ma- nipulate public opinion. In turn, this makes it possible for politicians to have a monopoly on the manage- ment of the electorate in order to obtain its support in the elections. Considering electoral technologies, we must consider their connection and combination with the totality of electoral technologies. That is, it should be noted that the actual electoral process involves the passage of two mega stages: 1) the preparato- ry (pre-election) stage, at w...
This paper aims to assess the arguments that claim representative democracy may be enhanced or replaced by an updated electronic version. Focusing on the dimension of elections and electioneering as the core mechanism of representative democracy I will discuss: (1) the proximity argument used to claim the necessity of filling the gap between decision-makers and stakeholders; (2) the transparency argument, which claims to remove obstacles to the publicity of power; (3) the bottom-up argument, which calls for a new form of legitimacy that goes beyond classical mediation of parties or unions; (4) the public sphere argument, referred to the problem of hierarchical relation between voters and their representatives; (5) the disintermediation argument, used to describe the (supposed) new form of democracy following the massive use of ITCs. The first way of conceptualizing e-democracy as different from mainstream 20th century representative democracy regimes is to imagine it as a new form direct democracy: this conception is often underlying contemporary studies of e-voting. To avoid some of the ingenuousness of this conception of e-democracy, we should take a step back and consider a broader range of issues than mere gerrymandering around the electoral moment. Therefore I shall problematize the abovementioned approach by analyzing a wider range of problems connected to election and electioneering in their relation with ICTs.
Vote, vote, vote - Exploring European Electoral Systems, 2018
On 16-18 February 2018 more than 20 young liberals from all over Europe gathered in Zagreb, Croatia for a seminar on European electoral systems. During the weekend the participants presented essays they had written in preparation for the seminar, and discussed these with experts together with other aspects of electoral systems and especially what system would be ideal for transnational lists. This publication is a compilation of essays and articles written by the seminar participants and inspired by the discussions during the event. It provides a comprehensive overview of the electoral systems currently in use across Europe, and explores different possibilities of implementing transnational lists in the future. I contributed to this publication by writing the Essay/Communication Paper: A Case for the Additional Member System (with a Twist of E-Democracy) and the Direct Election of the President of the European Commission along with the Vice President of the European Commission.
Legality, separation of powers, stability of electoral law: The impact of new voting technologies
2016
Legality, separation of powers and stability of electoral law are some of the principles of the European constitutional heritage. They should be respected and implemented throughout the electoral process, including when new voting technologies are used. This paper discusses e-voting specific implementations of the principles or challenges to it. Ongoing and proposed improvements in legislation or practice are pinpointed.
Electronic democracy and its organization – a revolution or a modernization? The example of e-voting
The main consequence of a wider application of the new technologies in public life is a change of the functioning of a modern democracy. The rapid development of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) and forming of the new form of democracy – electronic democracy – gave a new prospect for the development of democratic dialogue and made it possible for millions of citizens to participate in public debate and decision-making (through electronic voting). The main purpose of this text is to answer the question about the extent to which e-democracy and the use of e-voting in politics may change contemporary political life. And whether this is a revolution, or just improving, modernizing the realm of politics?